World-News

Few lawmakers care to risk not supporting US troops or first responders, making these must-pass bills. As such, they're attracting add-ons that lawmakers deem "emergencies."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022106N.shtml

William Fisher writes: "Find illegal activity in the US national security agency you work for. Report it to your superiors. Get rewarded by being demoted or having your security clearance revoked - tantamount to losing your career - while those whose conduct you've reported get promoted. This was the picture painted to a House of Representatives committee last week."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022106K.shtml

21.02.06

Nach Auffassung der stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden der Linksfraktion, Petra Pau, suchen SPD und CDU nach Wegen, die Bundeswehr gegen entführte Flugzeuge einzusetzen. Das Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgericht zum so genannten Luftsicherheitsgesetz sei eindeutig: Von Terroristen entführte Passagiermaschinen dürften nicht abgeschossen werden. Kein Staat habe das Recht, Leben gegen Leben abzuwägen. "Seither suchen CDU und SPD nach Wegen, das Urteil zu umgehen", kritisiert Pau. "Der CDU-Innenminister Schäuble will das Grundgesetz ändern. Der SPD-Innenexperte Wiefelspütz will Terror zum Krieg umdeuten."

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12992

http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_redrock_1106

Protect our western wildlands! Speak out to protect America's Redrock Wilderness

The Bush administration wants to escalate logging, oil exploration and grazing in our last unspoiled western wildlands by cutting the public out of the review process.

We need your immediate action to help block this reckless proposal, which would have devastating impacts for the fragile Redrock Wilderness and other outstanding BioGem wildlands across the West.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp? and tell the Bureau of Land Management to abide by the law and let concerned citizens participate in the debate over the future of these natural treasures. And please send your message immediately. The BLM is taking comments only until this Friday!

By silencing the public's voice, the BLM would clear the way for 60,000- pound "thumper trucks" in search of oil and gas to crash through the Redrock desert, marring its delicate soils and destroying crucial habitat for pronghorns and bighorn sheep.

Unbridled grazing and logging in this region and throughout our Yellowstone/Greater Rockies BioGem would also take a disastrous toll, laying waste to streams and native forests.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp? and demand that the Bureau of Land Management cease this unlawful attack on our right to speak out for our nation's most spectacular wildlands and wildlife. At the same time, urge the agency to extend the comment period for this important issue by another 30 days.

Thank you for taking action to protect our western BioGems.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President Natural Resources Defense Council



Speak out to protect America's Redrock Wilderness

We need your immediate help to block an unprecedented attack on some of our nation's most magnificent public wildlands.

Legislation has just been proposed that would irrevocably harm some of the most spectacular expanses of the Redrock Wilderness in southern Utah.

The sponsors of this proposed legislation, Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT), will accept public comments on their proposal only until April 19.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp right away and express your opposition to the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act.

As currently drafted, this legislation would protect only a fraction of the Zion-Mojave, an area proposed for protection under the Redrock Wilderness Act. It would deny protection for more than 200,000 acres of lands that deserve to be included in our nation's wilderness system. And it would further jeopardize America's Redrock Wilderness by rolling back protections that have been in place for more than 15 square miles of wilderness quality lands.

Under the proposal, taxpayers would be asked to foot the bill for selling or giving away public land in the region worth hundreds of millions or perhaps billions of dollars.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp immediately and tell Senator Bennett and Representative Matheson to develop a proposal that would adequately protect the irreplaceable Redrock Wilderness for the enjoyment and enrichment of all Americans.

Thank you for all of your efforts to save these magnificent wildlands.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President Natural Resources Defense Council

--------

Save America's Redrock Wilderness
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/721466/

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=389

--------

Children and mobile phones
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1063256/

Concentrated development in flood-prone parts of Missouri, California and other states has significantly raised the risk of New Orleans-style flooding as people snap up new homes even in areas recently deluged, researchers said.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022006EB.shtml

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/14/AR2006021402125_pf.html

(WP) Die US-Regierung hat die Namen von mehr als einer Viertelmillion Menschen als Terrorverdächtige in einer Datenbank erfasst Die Anzahl hat sich seit 2003 mehr als vervierfacht. Als terrorverdächtigt gelten - wie bekannt wurde - auch diverse NGOs, wie Greenpeace und andere Umweltschutzgruppen, Kriegsgegner und Globalisierungskritiker.

(Washington Post) Zum überwiegenden Teil soll es sich bei den in der Datenbank des National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) erfassten Personen nicht m US-Bürger sondern um Ausländer handeln. Dennoch zeigten sich Bürgerrechtsorganisationen schockiert vom Umfang dieser Datensammlung. Timothy Sparapani von der ACLU erklärte, er sei hierdurch hochgradig beunruhigt, auch wenn ihn die Sammelwut der Regierung nicht überrasche.

Auch amerikanische Parlamentarier wurden bereits in der Datenbank gefunden und in einer Reihe von Fällen wurden Passagieren Reiseverbote erteilt, weil ihre Namen als terrorverdächtigt gelistet waren. Auch für zu Unrecht Verdächtigte gibt es kein Anspruch oder Verfahren, um aus der Datenbank wieder entfernt zu werden.


Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23581 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23581


Infopool / metainfo hamburg http://www.hh-online.com

Vast deposits of personal information sit in databases across the internet. Terms used in phone conversations have become the grounds for federal investigation. Reputable organizations like the Catholic Worker, Greenpeace, and the Vegan Community Project, have come under scrutiny by FBI "counterterrorism" agents.

http://www.applefritter.com/bannedbooks


From Information Clearing House

Privacy Guardian Is Still a Paper Tiger:

A year after its creation, the White House civil liberties board has yet to do a single day of work.

http://tinyurl.com/p66k7


From Information Clearing House

After two months of insisting that President George W. Bush did not need court approval to authorize wiretapping of calls between the United States and suspected terrorists abroad, the administration is trying to resist pressure for judicial review while pushing for retroactive congressional approval of the program.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/20/news/spy.php#


From Information Clearing House

The increasing isolation of the US in the region was demonstrated at the Summit of the Americas meeting in November, where the US failed to force through its key project for a Free Trade Area of the Americas, which would further expose the continent to domination and exploitation by US corporations.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/657/657p24.htm


From Information Clearing House

We can stop a "preemptive" nuclear strike.
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/hirsch.php?articleid=8577


From Information Clearing House

American officials are probing whether Georgia, situated just northwest of Iran, will allow Washington to use its military bases and airfields in the event of a military conflict with Teheran.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11996.htm

The Marines may be the most celebrated of the American armed forces, but it's the Army that does most of the heavy lifting, as it is doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the process, the Army is being battered and shattered in the same way that it was in Vietnam.

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=EDARMY-02-20-06


From Information Clearing House

(DPA) Der Ministerrat hat nun beschlossen, die Daten von Telefonverbindungen EU-weit bis zu 2 Jahre lang zu speichern. Entgegen den Warnungen der Datenschützer werden damit die Maschen für die Überwachung der Bürger ein weiteres Mal enger gezogen.


Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23589 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23589


Infopool / metainfo hamburg http://www.hh-online.com

From: "Maggie Erotokritou" GSN

Please circulate this widely, love and light,

Maggie


WomenSayNOtoWar.Org is your opportunity to unite with international women everywhere and contribute towards the end of the illegal war in Iraq. Go to: http://www.womensaynotowar.org to sign the call now!

Our call will be delivered to the White House on March 8, 2006. Please celebrate International Women's Day on this date by joining us and visiting the following page for action/event ideas: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/signUp.jsp?key=924&t=WSNTW.dwt.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/signUp.jsp?key=924&t=WSNTW.dwt.
Men in solidarity with 'WOMEN SAY NO TO WAR' are invited to join too!


Informant: Martin Greenhut

Technological Advances Puts Microchips in People
http://www.thepolypost.com/story.php?story=3123

When it won't need a tyranny to deprive us of our freedom
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1714256,00.html

http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/earth_sciences/report-55478.html


Informant: NHNE

See what Michael Clark says.

From: Iris Atzmon
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:34 AM
Subject: Fw: From Mona Nilsson: The woman allergic to modern life


"People like me are treated like pariahs and acceptance of the condition comes hard," she said.

"But do you think I would have given up a satisfying life to live in the middle of nowhere with ghastly symptoms if I had a choice?"

The woman allergic to modern life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/4709388.stm

Interessengemeinschaft Mobilfunk Oldenburg (IMoO)

Sprecher: Martin Scheibert, Butjadinger Str. 97, 26125 Oldenburg
Tel. 0441 / 5090311, Fax 0441 / 5090312

Projekt - Gruppe im Agenda 21 - Prozess der Stadt Oldenburg

Per Fax – Diverse


An die Mitstreiter, Freunde und Sympathisanten der IMoO sowie alle an dem Thema Interessierten

17.02.06

Einladung


Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

hiermit lade ich Sie im Auftrag des Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk der Stadt Oldenburg, dem BUND Oldenburg und der IMoO zu folgender Veranstaltung ein:

Erbgutschäden durch Mobilfunk?

Es referiert über die REFLEX- Studie :

Prof. Dr. med. Franz Adlkofer, Stiftung VERUM, Müchen

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/imoo_ak_mf_plakat_reflex_studie_e03g.doc

Außerdem:

4 Jahre Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk der Stadt Oldenburg – ein Bericht

Donnerstag, 02.März 2006, 20.00 Uhr, Kulturzentrum PFL, Oldbg.

Mittlerweile besteht der mit einstimmigem Ratsbeschluß eingesetzte Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk der Stadt Oldenburg (AK-MF) vier Jahre. Mit diesem Gremium sollte der Versuch unternommen werden, die anlässlich der Auseinandersetzungen um einen Antennenstandort in Ohmstede offenkundig gewordenen Konflikte zwischen den Interessen der Anwohner, der Mobilfunkbetreiber sowie der Stadtverwaltung und der Ratsfraktionen im Dialog zu lösen.

Mit einer Reihe von Veranstaltungen zum Thema Mobilfunk in Oldenburg wendet sich nunmehr der AK-MF an die Öffentlichkeit, um die bisherige Arbeit darzustellen und Lösungsansätze für die bisher formulierten Ziele zugunsten eines möglichst Risiko minimierenden Umgangs mit dieser Technik aufzuzeigen.

Über diesen zunächst sehr schwierigen Prozess des Dialoges und dessen bisherige Ergebnisse werden zunächst Mitglieder des AK-MF, u.a. auch dessen ehemaliger Leiter, Dipl. Ing. Georg Lisiecki berichten. Dieses Oldenburger Dialogmodell hat angesichts der vielerorts zum Teil heftigen Proteste in den vergangenen Jahren bundesweit großes Aufsehen erregt und ist mittlerweile zum Vorbild in anderen Städten geworden.

An diesem Abend wird zudem Prof. Dr. med. Franz Adlkofer, international renommierter Wissenschaftler und wissenschaftlicher Direktor der VERUM- Stiftung, München, zum Thema „Erbgutschäden durch Mobilfunk?“ die Ergebnisse der REFLEX- Studie vorstellen. Diese Studie war in den Jahren 2000- 2003 im Rahmen eines Forschungsprogramms der europäischen Union durchgeführt worden. Sie sollte klären, ob der menschliche Organismus überhaupt durch bestimmte elektromagnetische Felder beeinflussbar sei und ging von der These aus, dass ein solcher Zusammenhang nicht nachweisbar sei.

Wir versprechen einen höchst interessanten Abend mit überraschenden Erkenntnissen und einer Vermehrung bisher gewonnener Einsichten ….


Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

i.A. Martin Scheibert


Nachricht von BI Mobilfunk Oldenburg
http://www.mobilfunk-oldenburg.de


Informant: Manfred Gödecke

Die Arbeitsagentur und ihre "Kundendaten"

Telefonabfragen zur Überprüfung der aktuellen Lebenssituation der Bezieherinnen und Bezieher von Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende – Kleine Anfrage an die Bundesregierung

Anfrage der Fraktion Die Linke vom 25.1.06 (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/grundrechte/komm/kundendaten_ba1.pdf

Antwort des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales vom 8.2.06 (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/grundrechte/komm/kundendaten_ba2.pdf

Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit Keine Pressefreiheit. Nirgends. Von Bilder-Verboten und sonstigen Tabu-Zonen Artikel von Daniela Dahn in Freitag vom 17.02.2006 http://www.freitag.de/2006/07/06070101.php


Kommunikationsfreiheit und Datenschutz: Informationsfreiheitsgesetz

Stellungnahme des Unabhängigen Landeszentrums für Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein (ULD) vom 16.02.2006 zum Entwurf eines Informationsfreiheitsgesetzes für das Land Schleswig-Holstein, Gesetzesentwurf der Landesregierung http://www.datenschutzzentrum.de/informationsfreiheit/stellungnahme-060216.htm

Kommunikationsfreiheit und Datenschutz > Arbeitnehmerdatenschutz

Hobby-Überwacher. Der Chef hört mit

„In Deutschland gibt es immer mehr Wanzen und Mini-Kameras in privater Hand. Vor allem am Arbeitsplatz wird zunehmend abgehört oder gefilmt, weshalb die Gewerkschaft der Polizei vor einem "Klima des Misstrauens" warnt. Bei der Auswahl der Mittel sind die Schnüffler kreativ…“ Artikel von Tobias Lill in Spiegel online vom 17. Februar 2006 http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/technologie/0,1518,401272,00.html

Kommunikationsfreiheit und Datenschutz > Vorratsdatenspeicherung

2006 – da sind wir völlig machtlos. Und keiner will es gewesen sein...

„Der Bundestag hat den Weg für die umstrittene Vorratsdatenspeicherung freigemacht. Doch die Verantwortung hierfür weist man, ähnlich dem EU-Parlament, weit von sich und übt sich stattdessen in Machtlosigkeitskoketterie. Mit fast allen Stimmen der Großen Koalition hat der Bundestag am Donnerstag, dem 16. Februar 2006, den Weg für die verpflichtende Vorratsdatenspeicherung (VDS) in Deutschland geebnet. Lediglich ein Abgeordneter, Siegfried Kauder, votierte dagegen, jedoch aus formalen Gründen. Die Bürgerrechte spielten bei seinem Entschluss keine Rolle…“ Artikel von Twister (Bettina Winsemann) vom 20.02.2006 in telepolis http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22085/1.html

Hieraus unser Unzitat des Tages:

„Ich halte das in der Tat für einen Anschlag auf Bürgerrechte und auf Datenschutz in Europa, der inakzeptabel ist; da stimme ich den Kritikern zu. Mit dieser Bewertung komme ich jetzt aber nicht weiter. Wir haben diese Richtlinie nun einmal umzusetzen. Würden Sie deswegen nicht auch konstatieren, dass sich hier etwas an der Lage geändert hat? Wir müssen eine Richtlinie umsetzen, ob sie uns gefällt oder nicht.“ Jörg Tauss, medienpolitischer Sprecher der SPD


Datenschützer gegen Empfehlung zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung. "Präventive Totalüberwachung bei Bagatelldelikten nicht tragbar"

Presseerklärung der Datenschutzinitiative STOP1984 vom 10.2.06 http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/grundrechte/komm/bagatell.html


Aus: LabourNet, 21. Februar 2006

Biotech Giant Revises Pledge on Sterile Seed Technology as Global Alliance Calls for a Ban.

Ban Terminator Campaign News Release,
21 February 2006

Please circulate widely

For more information and contacts see http://www.banterminator.org

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and agbiotech company, made a public promise in 1999 not to commercialize ‘Terminator Technology’ – plants that are genetically engineered to produce sterile seeds. Now Monsanto says it may develop or use the so-called ‘suicide seeds’ after all. The revised pledge from Monsanto now suggests that it would use Terminator seeds in non-food crops and does not rule out other uses of Terminator in the future. (1) Monsanto’s modified stance comes to light as the biotech and seed industry confront peasant and farmer movements, Indigenous peoples and their allies in an escalating battle at the United Nations over the future of Terminator.

In 2000 the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted a de facto moratorium on sterile seed technologies, also known as Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs). But at next month’s high-level meeting of the CBD in Curitiba, Brazil (20-31 March 2006) the biotechnology industry will intensify its push to undermine the six-year old de facto moratorium.

In response, over 300 organizations today declared their support for a global ban on Terminator Technology, asserting that sterile seeds threaten biodiversity and will destroy the livelihoods and cultures of the 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seed.

“The world’s farmers and Indigenous peoples cannot trust Monsanto,” said Alejandro Argumedo from Asociación ANDES - Potato Park in Cusco, Peru “Monsanto’s broken promise is a deadly betrayal because Indigenous peoples and farmers depend on seed saving for food security and self-determination.”

Terminator technology was first developed by the United States Department of Agriculture and US seed company Delta & Pine Land to prevent farmers from saving and re-using harvested seed, forcing them to buy new seeds each season. (2)

In October 1999, in response to worldwide opposition, Monsanto publicly pledged not to commercialize Terminator seeds. Then-CEO, Robert Shapiro, wrote an open letter to the Rockefeller Foundation, stating, “I am writing to let you know that we are making a public commitment not to commercialize sterile seed technologies, such as the one dubbed ‘Terminator.’”

Now, Monsanto has revised its commitment, pledging to keep Terminator only out of food crops – opening the door to the use of Terminator in cotton, tobacco, pharmaceutical crops and grass with sterility genes. Referring to new versions of GURTs, Monsanto’s ‘pledge’ now says, “Monsanto does not rule out the potential development and use of one of these technologies in the future. The company will continue to study the risks and benefits of this technology on a case-by-case basis.”

“Monsanto’s revised pledge resonates closely with the actions of a few rich governments that have been promoting Terminator at the UN recently,” points out Chee Yoke Ling of Third World Network. “It looks like Monsanto and other corporations are behind the strategy to unleash Terminator at the upcoming meetings of the CBD”.

Monsanto’s new stance on Terminator is part of an industry-wide attempt to undermine the de facto moratorium. In the past year, government delegates from Canada, Australia and New Zealand , working hand in hand with the biotech industry, have used UN meetings to introduce new text that will be considered at next month’s CBD meeting in Brazil. (3) This text recommends Terminator technologies be approached on a “case by case risk assessment” basis – echoing the language of Monsanto’s new ‘pledge.’ The intention behind the ‘case by case’ approach is to regulate Terminator just like any other genetically modified crop. This would ignore the uniquely devastating societal impacts of genetic seed sterility.

“Terminator is a direct assault on farmers, Indigenous cultures and on the food sovereignty and well-being of all rural people, primarily the very poorest,” said Chukki Nanjundaswamy of India from La Via Campesina, an organization representing hundreds of millions of peasant farmers worldwide. “If Monsanto bullies the UN into allowing ‘case by case’ assessment of Terminator, it means farmers will be carried off the land coffin by coffin.”

“These companies have a clear and simple vision that nothing should be grown without a license from Monsanto and a few other masters of sterility and reproduction,” explains Benny Haerlin of Greenpeace International. “They pursue this strategy step by step or ‘case by case’ as they now call it. If governments at the CBD give in to Monsanto and erode the Terminator moratorium we will all have to pay the bill tomorrow and the collateral damage will be the integrity and fertility of nature.”

The Ban Terminator campaign today announces the names of over 300 organizations worldwide that are demanding a ban on Terminator technology. The list of organizations is available at www.banterminator.org/endorsements These organizations are from every region of the world and include peasant farmer movements and farm organizations, Indigenous peoples organizations, civil society and environmental groups, unions, faith communities, international development organizations, women’s movements, consumer organizations and youth networks.

“We are particularly alarmed that Monsanto’s edited pledge no longer rejects commercialization of this dangerous technology.” said Lucy Sharratt of the international Ban Terminator Campaign. “We are calling on national governments to dismiss Monsanto’s tactic in favour of an all-out ban on Terminator. We invite all civil society and social movements to join with us for the battle against Terminator next month in Brazil.”

Ends


Notes to editors:

1. Monsanto’s new pledge on Terminator and GURTs is online at http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/media/pubs/2005/pledgereport.pdf. A full copy of their new and old pledges is available at http://www.banterminator.org

2. Delta and Pine Land refer to Terminator as Technology Protection System (TPS). Terminator is currently being tested in greenhouses and Delta and Pine Land vowed to commercialize it within the next few years.

3. In February 2005 at a meeting of the CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Assessment (SBSTTA) in Bangkok, Canadian government delegates made a surprise attempt to overturn the moratorium by allowing Terminator to be field tested and commercialized. Last month, at another preparatory meeting in Granada, Spain (known as the Working Group on 8j), the Australian government, coached by a US State Department representative, also attacked the moratorium. See ETC Group news release on 27th January 2006: “Granada’s Grim Sowers Plow up the moratorium on Terminator” available at http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=542

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11465801/

In scharfem Kontrast zur amerikanischen Energiepolitik ist nun Erstaunliches vom US-Präsidenten zu hören: weg von Öl - alternative Energietechniken sollen die Zukunft bestimmen. Im Fokus des jüngsten öffentlichen Auftritts stand die Solarenergie.

Bush besucht mehrere Betriebe und Forschungslabore zur Entwicklung von Energiespartechniken und Solarenergie, und erklärte es als dringliche Aufgabe, die USA aus der Abhängigkeit von ausländischem Öl zu befreien, in Anbetracht der Situation, dass 60% des amerikanischen Erdöls importiert werden müssten und dies vielfach aus politisch unzuverlässigen Staaten.

Der überraschende scharfe Richtungswechsel scheint tatsächlich aus der Einsicht in energiepolitische Notwendigkeiten zu resultieren und deutet darauf hin, dass die US-Regierung es nicht mehr für realistisch hält, die Kontrolle über die globalen Ressourcen der fossilen Energieträger zu erzwingen, die bis in die jüngste Vergangenheit noch das zentrale Ziel der US-Außenpolitik zu sein schien.

Darauf, dass diese Wende zu alternativen Energietechnologien möglicherweise ernst zu nehmen ist, deutet der Umstand, dass die Auftritte des Präsidenten mit Hilfe der amerikanischen Medienpräsenz inszeniert waren und dass darüber hinaus in den kommenden Wochen die Beteiligung an Veranstaltungen zu Energiefragen durch eine Anzahl weiterer Mitglieder der Regierung vorgesehen ist.


Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23586 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23586


Infopool / metainfo hamburg http://www.hh-online.com

Please forgive us if this is the hundredth time you have seen this appeal, especially if you have already signed it. If you havent signed it do please sign it. If you have please get another organisation to sign it and write to your government.

Parliamentarians and NGOs: PLEASE SIGN PARLIAMENTARIANS AND CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAL ON IRAN AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS, LETTER TO KOFI ANNAN (urls and text below). Individuals - PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR GOVERNMENT/UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

To sign please email this adress foesyd4@ihug.com.au with your name, position, name of organisation, and (if you are a parliamentarian) party and electorate. Please do not forget location and COUNTRY.

(Urls for Parliamentarians and Civil Socety Appeal and Letter to Kofi Annan below)

Individuals (as well as Parliamentarians and NGOs) are also strongly urged to write to your foreign minister and/or Security Council representative in the same sense as the Appeal, urging a peaceful solution to the crisis with Iran. Please FAX or write to your government, preferably handwritten or printed on letterhead.
(Security Council anf foreign ministers fax numbers below).

PARLIAMENTARIANS AND CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAL ON IRAN AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS

A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE IRAN CRISIS AND A NUCLEAR-FREE MIDDLE EAST

NO 'FIRST USE' OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

To: President George Bush Secy of State Condoleeza Rice UN Ambassador John Bolton

President Ahmadinejad of Iran Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Jharze Iran UN Ambassador, H.E. Zarif-Khonsari

Ehud Olmert, Acting Prime Minister of Israel, Israel Foreign MinisterTzipi Livni, H.E. Mr. Dan Gillerman, Israel UN Mission

cc Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission Tony Blair, Prime Minister of UK Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,

The Hon. John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia The Hon. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia

M. Jacques Chirac, Président de la République Française M. Dominique de Villepin, Premier Ministre M. Philippe Douste-Blazy, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères S.E. Jean-Marc de la Sablière, Représentant permanent auprès des Nations-Unies

Herr Horst Köhler, Bundespräzsident Deutschlands Frau Angela Merkel, Bundeskanzlerin Deutschlands Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Deutsche Bundesaussenminister

Mr Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United Nations Mr Mohamed ElBaradei, Director of the IAEA

Wolfgang Schuessel, President of the European Union, Chancellor of Austria,

President Putin of Russia Foreign Minister Ivanov of Russia

China UN, Geneva and IAEA Missions

IAEA Board Members


Dear Presidents Bush and Ahmadinejad, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Secretaries of State, IAEA Board Members, and Ambassadors,

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is possibly the single greatest threat to civilisation. If a feared cascade of proliferation occurs, the probability that by malice, madness, miscalculation or malfunction, nuclear weapons will at some point be used will increase sharply. All nations have a responsibility to ensure that the number of nations with nuclear weapons does not grow, to prevent non-state actors from obtaining them, and for those who posses nuclear weapons to eliminate and abolish them.

Threats and rumours of military action or even nuclear weapons use only worsen a growing crisis between Iran, the United States, and Israel.

Reports of preparations for and explorations of military options, no matter how speculative, are highly disturbing and are in themselves dangerous. Such explorations must cease. There must be no talk of war.

But there IS talk of war, both from the United States and from Israel. President Ahmadinejad, you have spoken of "wiping Israel from the map." In the US and Israel, 'hotheads' call openly for "swift military action", while 'responsible' leaders speak of "no option being ruled out." President Bush, we heard these same two formulations used just months before the invasion of Iraq. We urge that the explorations of military or nuclear options cease immediately, and support IAEA General Director, Mohamed ElBaradei in calling for this belligerent talk from all parties to stop now.

The United States and other Nuclear Weapon States and de facto nuclear weapon states -nations that already possess nuclear weapons- have made little progress toward the internationally mandated goal of the total and unequivocal elimination of those weapons. Although there has been some limited progress in lowering total nuclear stockpiles, the established nuclear weapons possessors continue to rely on those weapons in their security doctrines, and do not envisage change in that posture 'for the foreseeable future'.

This continues in spite of a clear international consensus to the effect that nuclear weapons are a continuing threat to civilisation and life, in spite of repeated calls by the international community for progress toward their total and unequivocal elimination.

Nations that possess large nuclear arsenals cannot consistently or credibly call for others to eliminate or cease the pursuit of nuclear weapons arsenals of their own while not moving to eliminate their own nuclear weapons. A global commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons is a global commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons, and applies equally to all parties. There can be no exceptions. Those who now posses nuclear arsenals are obliged to eliminate those arsenals. Those who do not have them must not pursue them.

Similarly, the violation of the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East by one party does not in any way excuse its violation by another party. However, the renunciation of the nuclear option by one party will facilitate its renunciation by another party.

Israel's nuclear arsenal and the pursuit of nuclear weapons by Iran - if indeed that is taking place - are dangerous per se and open the gate for further proliferation by other Middle Eastern nations, and for a middle eastern arms race that would be dangerous in the extreme. This must not happen.

Serious concerns exist over the possibility that US nuclear doctrine may envisage strikes against other nations that involve a first use of nuclear weapons, or possibly the use of nuclear weapons against nations that are not themselves nuclear - armed. We note with approval the recent letter by US senators and others in this matter.

A third use of nuclear weapons must never take place. It would be a catastrophe not only for Iran or Israel but for the entire region and even for the entire world, because of its radioactive fallout, its chaotic effects, and because it would break the taboo against the use of these weapons that has so far held place for the last 60 years. Breaking this taboo could result in the further use of nuclear weapons, with a lower and lower bar for such use. The widespread use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic for the world. We urge all parties to renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons, and to adopt policies that rule out their use.

The Parliamentarians, civil society organisations, and prominent individuals signed below hereby urge a solution to the crisis in relations between the US and Iran, Israel and Iran, based on the following clearly defined principles:

1) No use of any military option whatsoever by any party for any reason.

2) A clear commitment by all nuclear-armed parties not to use nuclear weapons in this situation, and a broader commitment to the doctrine of no 'first use' of nuclear weapons.

3) The implementation of the 1995 Non-Proliferation Treaty Resolution on a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East, implementation of the annual consensus-adopted General Assembly resolutions on 'Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in the region of the Middle East'.

4) A clear commitment by all parties to the global elimination of nuclear weapons, including through reaffirming the Final Declaration of the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and relevant General Assembly resolutions.

5) A diplomatic path to the removal of tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran, involving compromise on both sides, recognition of the legitimate security concerns of all parties including both Israel and Iran, and refraining from inflammatory statements or the exploration of military options by any party.


URLS AND FAX NUMBERS BELOW

Urls for Parliamentarians and Civil Society Appeal on Iran:

In french:

Tu le trouveras sur le site d'ACDN : http://www.acdn.net en français et en anglais.

PNND website at the following url:

http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/ParliamentariansIranNukes.htm

It is also on the GANA website of Ak Malten at:

http://www.cornnet.nl/~akmalten/Iran_Nuclear_letter.html


Letter to Kofi Annan url:

http://www.ippnw.org ,

below "Udates and News".


Some Important Fax Numbers:

(contact details for all security council members may be found on: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org )

George Bush, President, USA:1-202-456-2461

Condoleeza Rice, Secy of State USA: 1-202-647-6047

USA UN Mission NY - 1-212-415-4443 (Amb John Bolton)

Iran Minister of Foreign Affairs 0098-21-667-43149

Iran UN Ambassador NY - 2-212-867-7086

Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs 97-225-303015

Israel UN Mission NY 1-212-499-5515

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany: 49-228-56-2357 or 49-30-4000-2357

Germany UN Mission 1-212-940-0402

Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 7-095-244-9248/4112

Russia NY UN Mission 1-212-628-0252

China UN Mission 1-212-634-7626

Brazil Geneva UN mission 43-1-513-8374

Canada Foreign Ministry 1-613-992-2482

Canada UN mission 1-212-848-1195

Sweden Foreign Ministry 46-8-723-1176

Sweden UN Mission 1-212-832-0389

Norway Foreign Ministry 47-2224-9580

Norway UN mission 1-212-688-0554

Jack Straw, UK Secy of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 44-207-270-2833

UK Un Mission 1-212-745-9316

Hon. Alexander Downer, Australian Ministry for Foreign Affairs 61-2-6273-4112

Australia UN Mission 1-212-351-6610.